


To Hesitate

by GuardrailDamageAhead



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: F/M, My First AO3 Post, adding one extra moment to the catacombs scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-19
Updated: 2021-01-19
Packaged: 2021-03-18 04:08:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28860831
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GuardrailDamageAhead/pseuds/GuardrailDamageAhead
Summary: A very short "what if" with a dash of bittersweet nonsense. My first fic!
Relationships: Katara/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 17
Kudos: 42





	To Hesitate

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to gemgirl28 for looking this over first!

The crystals of the catacombs bathe everything subjected to their presence in a green hue, but Katara notices Zuko’s scar stubbornly refuse to wash away, still angry and red.

She thinks of the chi paths below his skin, the amount of power needed to cause such a wound, and, almost selfishly, what he might look like underneath. In her private thoughts, she admits “handsome,” with or without it. 

At the loud impact of a rock wall tumbling down, her first instinct is not to jump away from him. He hasn’t pushed, so she won’t pull. Instead, she means only to inspect the noise and whoever interrupted them.

Zuko’s heart jumps as he feels her gaze leave him.

Reflexively, he grabs at the hand that had just caressed his face. It’s normal, he tells himself, to reach out in the sudden absence of tenderness. Her hand feels so small in his.

For one moment longer, they stare openly at each other. 

He imagines what she might see when she looks at him: the steel mask of determination, the desperate plea for freedom, or the uncertainty of a child.

“Katara!”

This time, she turns unhindered, her braid whipping against his stomach.

It almost stings.


End file.
